Coding conventions: 9 areas where developers actually agree

To code is to care -- about programming conventions that is

A new tool sprung from the recent GitHub data challenge, Popular Convention lets you quickly identify the most popular coding conventions in Java, C#, Ruby, JavaScript, Python, and other programming languages. By looking at millions of recent GitHub commits, Popular Convention, created by JeongHoon Byun, identifies the rates at which programmers are following common conventions for selected programming languages.

Not only can you see whether other programmers are in line with your pet programming habit (or peeve) but you can compare conventions across languages. The tool also could be used to track changing trends over time, such as max code line length, single versus double quotes, or using all-caps for constant names.

Popular Convention offers just the right dose of distraction for a midday coding break. More importantly, using it could help you adjust your coding habits for better communication with other programmers.